Last year I made 19 5 gallon batches of beer and almost all of them had yeast setteling on the botton of my bottles. Now I know you can buy a filter system but I don't have the money for that. Is there anything I can do to remove as much yeast as possible just before botteling?
Yeast in beer
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impatient
Well-Known Member
You will get yeast in the bottom of you bottles because they have to be in there to carbonate your beer. Only one option if you don't want the settled yeast, which the belgians claim is good for your health (google it), keg and force carb it.
I think you can get started for around $200.
I think you can get started for around $200.
Homebrew is supposed to have yeast in it...it is necessary in order to carbonate it. The other option is to keg...
Well I might as well post my obligatary rant on this subject...CTRL-V
This comes up a lot from new brewers, especially since we in the states have grown up with fizzy yellow DEAD BEER as opposed beer cultures where living beers (such as homebrew) are consumed...
Here's a rant I wrote on this subject, don't take it personal I'm not ranting at you....It just contains some info you might be able to use in your edumacation of you, your friends and family about "living beers."
Some homebrewers on here who make labels for the beers they give away usually have a note on it about living yeasts and pouring properly. IIRC, someone on here has a logo with a graphic on one of the side panels showing how to pour. If you are giving your beers away you might want to consider doing the same.
I wish I could recall who did it for the label.
Anyway here's the "rant." (like I said it was to someone else.)
See there are actually more commercial bottle conditioned WITH YEAST SEDIMENT in stores, in bottleshops, and in most of our fridges than there are dead and filtered beers...
I enter contests...and placed decently last summer....in fact the biggest comments I got this summer was on the CLARITY of my beer..one of my beers was describes as being jewell like...and ruby like...I believe it comes from the fact that I leave it in primary for a month..use finings to clear it, and give it a nice period of bottle conditioning, make sure I cool the wort quicky and chill long enough to eliminate haze..... In other words brew properly....
If you work on you beer process, AND pour properly yeast sediment is not really an issue...it's a tiny bit of beer left behind in the bottle where there is a glass of uber clear beer. There's no yeast in this beerglass of mine, what little there is is still in the bottle.
Even if you do decide to go the expensive route of some sort of filter setup, you are going to do what the BMC manufacturers end up doing, sacrificing flavor for the sake of comsetic clarity...you can't really filter the yeast out in such a way that lets all the complex flavors of your beers come through...so of those
proteins and other things that give you beer a freshness get filtered out too.
Hope this helps you be a better beer advocate!!!
We even had the telling your friends disccusion before...
Who said you have to be an "uptight wanker" to educate?
I present to you;
I have very, very very little sediment in the bottom of mine, using the methods I mentioned above.
Remember Yeast is your friend!
Well I might as well post my obligatary rant on this subject...CTRL-V
This comes up a lot from new brewers, especially since we in the states have grown up with fizzy yellow DEAD BEER as opposed beer cultures where living beers (such as homebrew) are consumed...
Here's a rant I wrote on this subject, don't take it personal I'm not ranting at you....It just contains some info you might be able to use in your edumacation of you, your friends and family about "living beers."
Some homebrewers on here who make labels for the beers they give away usually have a note on it about living yeasts and pouring properly. IIRC, someone on here has a logo with a graphic on one of the side panels showing how to pour. If you are giving your beers away you might want to consider doing the same.
I wish I could recall who did it for the label.
Anyway here's the "rant." (like I said it was to someone else.)
Drink bud....otherwise get used to it.
It's a fact of life when you make living beers. Unless you keg or force carb there needs to be living yeast in your beer to carb and conditiion.
Rather than try to avoid it you should relish in the fact that you have made REAL LIVING BEER as opposed to tasteless and processed commercial crap...It's not to be dreaded it's to be celebrated.
Learn to pour homebrew properly and get over it...
[youtube]xyXn4UBjQkE[/youtube]
The Belgians practically worship it, for all it's healthful benefits...
Think of carbing/conditioning as another (but tiny) fermentation, in a small (12, 16, or 22 ounce) carboy. The yeast converts the sugar (priming solution) to a miniscule amount of alcohol (not really enough to change the abv of the beer) and CO2...The CO2 builds up in the headspace, is trapped and is reabsorbed in the solution...
Most of the time we don't notice this, (except for new brewers who stare at their bottles then start a "wtf" thread) but depending on the yeast, a mini krauzen forms on top of the bottle, then it falls, like in your fermenter and that becomes the "sludge" at the bottom of the bottles. As it falls it also scrubs the beer clean of many off flavors on the way down.
This is very similar to the trub at the bottom of your fermenter, only obvioulsy much much smaller.
Now some yeast are more flocculant then others, also depending on some brewing things one may do, some beers have very little noticeable yeast at the bottom, either because it just din't form that much OR it wasn't very flocculant and it is still in solution.
A long primary helps tighten the cake in primary, as does crash cooling...Racking to a secondary, adding finings and crash cooling all affect how much yeast is in suspension in the beer to help carb it...Also the type of yeast will change the amount of apparant yeast in the bottom, or in solution...
Also chilling the bottles down for at least a week after the 3 weeks @ 70 will help make the beer clearer and pull the yeast down to the bottom.
When I bottle I always run the autosiphon once across the bottom of the fermenter to make sure I DO kick up enough yeast for carbonation.
A lot of my beers have very little yeast at the bottom of the bottle, some appear to not have any at all, even though they seem to carb up fine.
also remember SOME beers, like Hefes are supposed to be cloudy with suspended yeasts.
For me personally, sometimes I intentionally dump the yeast in my glass, other times I do the "pour to the shoulder" method, where you watch the yeast mover up to the shoulder of the beer, and stop pouring just as the yeast is about to come out...
Now as opposed to the OP that thinks filtered dead beers are better than real beers, here's a pretty comrehensive list of all the commercial beers that are bottle conditioned...it's not too up to date though...but it is impressive...this is what a lot of us who ACTUALLY BOTTLE HARVEST THE GLORIOUS YEASTS from beers to capture the strains, use as a rough reference...
Yeasts from Bottle Conditioned Beers
Now if you look at this list, and then compare it to the "clear beers" (meaning BMC) you will quickly see that the kind of beer the OP is referring to is actually in the minority..
See there are actually more commercial bottle conditioned WITH YEAST SEDIMENT in stores, in bottleshops, and in most of our fridges than there are dead and filtered beers...
I enter contests...and placed decently last summer....in fact the biggest comments I got this summer was on the CLARITY of my beer..one of my beers was describes as being jewell like...and ruby like...I believe it comes from the fact that I leave it in primary for a month..use finings to clear it, and give it a nice period of bottle conditioning, make sure I cool the wort quicky and chill long enough to eliminate haze..... In other words brew properly....
If you work on you beer process, AND pour properly yeast sediment is not really an issue...it's a tiny bit of beer left behind in the bottle where there is a glass of uber clear beer. There's no yeast in this beerglass of mine, what little there is is still in the bottle.
Even if you do decide to go the expensive route of some sort of filter setup, you are going to do what the BMC manufacturers end up doing, sacrificing flavor for the sake of comsetic clarity...you can't really filter the yeast out in such a way that lets all the complex flavors of your beers come through...so of those
proteins and other things that give you beer a freshness get filtered out too.
Hope this helps you be a better beer advocate!!!
We even had the telling your friends disccusion before...
Who said you have to be an "uptight wanker" to educate?
I present to you;
Yeastie Boyz
A one act play by Revvy
Cast
HB) = Homebrewer
G) = Guest.
Scene, a living room, G and HB are hanging out watching the game.
HB) Hey you wanna try one of my beers?
G) Sure
HB grabs bottle, glass and bottle opener. Proceeds to open and pour beer properly.
HB) I dunno if you know this, but as opposed to BMC's this beer and most micro brews are alive?
G)Huh? Wha?
HB) They're still alive. See the macroswill makers pretty much kill their beers so they last on the shelf. They pasturize them and filter out the yeast, and to me, most of the flavor...that's why I like to brew, and like to go to brewpubs and stuff.
But these beers, and ones like Rogue, and Bell's don't filter, in fact the yeast is still in the bottle and that's how the beer gets carbonated.
B) Really?
HB holds up bottle to the light, showing the dregs.
HB) Yeah, see this stuff at the bottom? That's the yeast....notice how clear your beer is? If I had poured it in you beer it would have been cloudy, but I poured the beer til this stuff got to the shoulder of the bottle, leaving it behind.
HB knocks back the yeast dregs.
Actually the stuffs really good for you it's full of vitamin b and stuff. Sometimes I don't bother leaving it behind and just dump it in the bottle. And some beers like Wheats are meant to be cloudy with suspended yeast. There's different types of beer yeasts, and they give beers different tastes. Some yeast give the beer the flavor of Banana, or cloves.
Or like this beer here the yeast gives it this quality (Hb describes the yeast in the beer guest is drinking.) Can you taste it?
Some of us homebrewers actually capture the yeast from some of the beers, and grow our own cultures with them. Some are really awesome and hard to get.
G)Wow, I didn't know you knew so much about this stuff...cool.
HB) Thanks, didja know that the yeasts are so important to the Belgian brewers that guard their yeast like it was fort knox? Some of them take it so seriously that they actually filter out the strain they fermented with, and then replace it with a different one to bottle carb and condition them? They actually take out one strain (like the BMC'ers do) BUT they still add yeast at bottling time...it's that important to them.
G) What?
HB) Yeah and brewers and even some homebrewers who go to Belgian, actually try to steal samples of the yeast.
G) No ****?
HB) Yeah it's pretty wild, huh? Hey you wanna try another of my beers, maybe a wheat or a belgian that has a really yeasty character?
G) Yeah sure.
HB hands G a bottle, class and bottle openner
HB)Ok dude, I showed you how to pour to the shoulder of the bottle, so why don't you give it a try?
G) Cool! So will you teach me how to brew sometime?
HB) Yeah, I'm brewing this weekend, come on by Sat. Morning.
Smiles knowing he's converted another one to the 'darkside.'
G) SO can I make a beer like bud lite?
HB smacks G over the head with beer bottle
The End
(Just kidding about the last part)
I have very, very very little sediment in the bottom of mine, using the methods I mentioned above.
Remember Yeast is your friend!
Kegging is indeed a very good way to get a glass of clear beer. For bottling, you have a few options. Use a secondary with plenty of time to settle, be more conservative when racking (i.e. leave more beer in the carboy to avoid the yeast cake), or you can try a fining. I've used gelatin and I liked it. It helps the yeast to flocculate once they're all finished. You'll still have plenty of yeast to carbonate. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/gelatin-finings-53912/
alpo
Well-Known Member
I make sure to get the wort down to 70 within 10 min. I use Irish moss, 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks secondary. I raise the primary to its racking level 2 days before the racking. I rack very carefully and somewhat conservatively. I crash cool the secondary 2 days before bottling. It comes out pretty clear, better than my first few batches, that's for sure. Of course there is always some yeast on the bottom, but it's not bad.
ifishsum
Well-Known Member
The cheapest method (actually it's free) is to leave it to ferment for 3-4 weeks before bottling, either in primary or in combination with a secondary. I usually have only a little bit of sediment in my bottles.
tndave
Well-Known Member
This is a great thread! On the list linked to in Revvy's post Fat Tire is on there. A lot of the other beers I've never heard of, but I have had a few Fat Tires and have looked for yeast once or twice and didn't see any. Is it still possible to make a starter from refrigerated Fat Tire...or I guess it would be better ask Could it be possible?
nosmatt
Well-Known Member
wow revvy, im glad you did not type all of that in one post. i could not even read it all, let alone type it, and i am a long winded, run-on-sentance crating typer!
anyway, crash cool before racking (weather to secondary or bottle bucket).
i read it here, i tried it, and it f'n works!
revvy told me to chill the beer for a few days prior to opening to eliminate the chill haze, and it a works!
my 44 magnum IPA is tasting awesome, is stone clear, and if you know how to pour a beer, has no visibale yeast in it.
this comes from a person that was very discouraged by "uber" cloudy beer, you could not come close to seeing through it.
now i can, with a 1.5" head on top.
(those of you who photo your beer after it warms a bit with the tiny 1/8" head on top can appreciate this)
anyway, crash cool before racking (weather to secondary or bottle bucket).
i read it here, i tried it, and it f'n works!
revvy told me to chill the beer for a few days prior to opening to eliminate the chill haze, and it a works!
my 44 magnum IPA is tasting awesome, is stone clear, and if you know how to pour a beer, has no visibale yeast in it.
this comes from a person that was very discouraged by "uber" cloudy beer, you could not come close to seeing through it.
now i can, with a 1.5" head on top.
(those of you who photo your beer after it warms a bit with the tiny 1/8" head on top can appreciate this)
dagamore
Well-Known Member
Wait, when did they start puting yeast in to beer?
Yes i know i have issues.
Yes i know i have issues.
IowaHarry
Well-Known Member
Jeezley crow, Rev, that was a rant and a half! I'm sure glad I don't have to sit through any of your sermons. Oy vey!
Yes:
1) When you rack your beer from a primary to secondary, add 1 tbsp of dissolved (unflavored) gelatin.
2) Place your secondary into a chiller around 35 degrees for about 4-5 days.
XXguy
Well-Known Member
I have been picking up a bunch of good tips & improving my brewing processes since joining HBT.
Just last night, I bottled my latest batch. I did a long primary (almost 5 weeks), and then cold crashed. The beer was the clearest I've ever put into bottles.
The thought that comes to mind is, I didn't even try to do anything with finings or gelatin..... is there a point where you've removed enough of the yeast to get worried that you won't get a good carbonation & conditioning in a bottle? I'm a little worried that if my beer gets much more clear before it's going into bottles, there won't be enough yeast left over to do the necessary work.
Are gelatins & finings best left for kegging & forced carbonation?
Just last night, I bottled my latest batch. I did a long primary (almost 5 weeks), and then cold crashed. The beer was the clearest I've ever put into bottles.
The thought that comes to mind is, I didn't even try to do anything with finings or gelatin..... is there a point where you've removed enough of the yeast to get worried that you won't get a good carbonation & conditioning in a bottle? I'm a little worried that if my beer gets much more clear before it's going into bottles, there won't be enough yeast left over to do the necessary work.
Are gelatins & finings best left for kegging & forced carbonation?
The only finning I've ever ued or needed to clear my was a little Irish moss in the boil, then everything else already mentioned, quick cooling, long primary (if I could I would probably crash cool, but I'm not set up for that, and it's not really been necessary for mine) and chilling the beer in the bottle for at least a week...and that does the trick for mine.
Dennis1979
Well-Known Member
I was that way at first. When I first decided to homebrew and was getting all my stuff at the HBS, the guy there talked about the yeast and other sediment I would have in my finished beer. My first feeling was of disappointment that it would be there and my next question to him was, well can I filter that crap out? He more or less explained why it needed to be there, which I only partially understood at the time, and since then, of course, I have learned so much more, the main thing being that even without all the fancy equipment and brewing capabilities, I can actually make better beer in my 5-gallon bucket than Bud can in a million years. Ah, living beer!
So far I havent used any finings or crash cooled, but I get very little sediment. The amount of sediment I get is comparable to what I have seen in some store-bought bottle conditioned beer. When I pour, I leave the sediment in the bottle and my beer is nice and clear. Usually, I swig what I left in the bottle though not all the sediment. Perhaps I will start gulping that down too since I hear it is good for me.
Dennis
So far I havent used any finings or crash cooled, but I get very little sediment. The amount of sediment I get is comparable to what I have seen in some store-bought bottle conditioned beer. When I pour, I leave the sediment in the bottle and my beer is nice and clear. Usually, I swig what I left in the bottle though not all the sediment. Perhaps I will start gulping that down too since I hear it is good for me.
Dennis
Dennis1979
Well-Known Member
Hmm, that doesn't sound good.
tndave
Well-Known Member
LOL, there are worse things...
So, this might be a dumb question, but what is crash cooling?
llazy_llama
Well-Known Member
Just what it sounds like. You put your beer in a large refridgerator truck and crash it off a bridge. This process with both chill your beer, and reactivate any dormant yeast, resulting in a clearer finished beer.
Really though, here's the Brew Wiki: Crash Cooling
You mean de-activate the yeast....Crash cooling causes the yeasts to flocculate, go dormant and fall to the bottom...Pulling other things down with it.
At least in the case of ales, that is.
At least in the case of ales, that is.
